The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1887-05-20
THE ART OF EMBALMING.
How Bellies Of tho Dead Are Preserved for Flu.
ture Generations

How Bc.iies Of the Dead Are Preserved for Flu.
turc Generations.
Said Rochester Morning Herald
reporter to prominent undertaken
recently: ~ suppose this warm
weather will cause you to get out your
refrigerators?'
'Well, 1t would few years ago, but
now you know we neveruse ice for pre-
serving a body except i'll few cases
where the friends or relatives object
to our embahning it,"
"That Is more expensive, though, is
it not?"
"Oh, no; the cost is about the same
and the trouble is much less. Now,
you see, in using ice we haye big box
to carry around, and where we have
we would be obliged to have several
coolers, but by the new way OF pre-
serving here is all we have to carry"
and he laid his hand on what looked
like a sample case such as is ordi
narily carried by Il liquors salesman.
On opening the case it bore strik-
ing resemblance to a surgeons case,
except that on one side were three
quart bottles filled with milky look
ing fluids. The Instruments consisted
OF n small knife, u lancet such rs is
used by physicians in "tapping, and
o syringe with y great variety of noz-
zles. This" said the undertaken
picking up the syringe, sis the princ-
pal thing used, and the nozzles are
used i'll just as many ways as there
are nozzles. Now we use this nozzle
when We do not intend to do q regular
job OF embalming, but simply to pre-
serve the body u day or two, and it
is used for injecting the luid into the
stomach. This is fora hypodermic
injection, this for n vein, this for an
artery, and this is used for what we
cali initiating. That is, if the person
has been sick u long time and is very
thin in the face we insert this in the
face under the ear and force q certain
fluid into the face to give it a round
appearance. ="
"Then | understand that it is not
necessary to fill the veins and arteries
in order to preserve body for u few
days."
Not by any means. OF course it
depends very much on the condition
OF the body when given into our hands,
but ordinarily we inject into the
stomach and intestines and into the
head through the nose and ears. In
a thorough Job, where the body has
to be kept number OF days in warm
weather, we fill the arteries, and in
case OF the sudden death ola vigorous
person we usually have to draw ont
the blood first. This we are Obliged
to do while the body is warm, but we
do not inject the embalming fluid til
the animal warmth has lett the
body"
"How long will body retain its
natural appearance that has beer
thoroughly treated?"
II can hardly say. All the way
from one year to ten or even more
and | expect if embalnled body
just to see how long could keep it
it would keep till it was destroyed by
outside agencies. | have moved
bodies that have been buried three OF
four years that were perfect, only
they were covered with mold"
''How long has the custom Of pre-
serving bodies i'll this manner beer
common among undertakers?"
''It's ouly been in general use abou
five or six years, although the art o
preserving bodies with q solution o
sulphate OF alumina was discovered
by Gaunal about 1884. Substitute
for alumina are now used, as sulphstt
of zinc, bismuth and salts OF variou
kinds, 1t is a great art and one tina
undertakers could hardly get alon
without now that they have begun
rract;cing it Our method is, to b
: sure, vastly different from that of tn
| ancients, for their idea was to pre-
serve the body forever, and to d.
, that all the internal organs had to b
removed and the flesh was literal
, dried up, whereas the art of embaln
0 ing as practicted to-day is simply t
preserve the body in a natural cor
g dition for limited time"